PUBLISHED
10:38 19th July 2013
by Will Jago
Jake Forster-Caskey feels fitter than ever while taking part in the club’s pre-season programme for the first time since turning professional.
The 19-year-old has become accustomed to travelling with young England sides during the summer months but speaking from the Madrid training camp he feels in good shape to prove himself within the Albion first team.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “It’s my first pre-season tour with Brighton because during the other pre-seasons I’ve been busy with international squads. It’s nice to finally do a whole pre-season and I feel fitter than ever.
“We had our first game on Wednesday and it was a good game for the second performance of our pre-season fixtures.
“Everybody wants to start and we want to get as many minutes as we can, so to be named in the starting XI made me very happy.
“I felt like I struck up a good partnership with Andrea Orlandi, playing in front of Crofty. I like playing with Andrea, I like the way he plays and we bounce off each other well. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to play alongside him during the season to come.
“I’ve been about the first team but I don’t really feel like I’ve started at Brighton, so it’s nice to get a full pre-season in because I’ve never had that before. I’ve never felt as fit as I do now and I’m really looking forward to the season ahead, because I want to push on and do as well as I can.”
Forster-Caskey spent time on loan at Oxford United last season and he is confident that his experiences in League Two will help him ahead of the 2013/14 campaign, under head coach Oscar Garcia.
“At Oxford I was starting almost every game and I’ve never done that before, so it was good. I realised what it’s like to play every week. It’s not easy but I’m pleased that I’ve done it because if I break into the Brighton side I know what it takes.
“Last season was split into two halves for me. I went on loan and started the majority of games but when I came back I couldn’t force my way into the side. Now I just look to the future and I’m aiming to start as many games as I can during the coming season.
“We’re all adapting to the new gaffer and training has been very good. It’s really energetic and fast, so hopefully that puts us in good stead ahead of the new season.”
Original article